***Live Updates*** Trump Impeachment Trial Day Four

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 9: In this screenshot taken from a congress.gov webcast, Bruce C
congress.gov via Getty Images
Tony Lee

Former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial continues on Friday. Trump’s lawyers will present their defense of the former president.

Stay tuned to Breitbart News for live updates.

All times Eastern.

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6:30 PM: Senate adjourns until 10 AM on Saturday.

6:25 PM: Standing ovation for Officer Eugene Goodman.

6:22 PM: No more questions from Senators.

6:20 PM: Raskin, in response to the “January exception” question, says former presidents like Trump can still be tried criminally. He says impeachment is about preserving the republic and Democrats are not impeaching Trump out of “hatred.” He says impeachment is not a “vindictive power.” He says the end of a president’s term is the most dangerous and says Senators don’t need to ask historians or look around the world because it happened here.

6:07 PM: Rubio asks if future Congresses could impeach former officials to prevent them from running again.

Raskin says the jurisdictional issue is over, and the Senate settled it. Raskin says in this case there is a former president who committed crimes while he was in office and impeached while he was in office. He says Rubio’s hypothetical has no bearing because he is not talking about an official impeached while in office for conducted committed while in office.

Van der veen says they could. He tells Senators they could still acquit on the jurisdiction issue. He says Raskin doesn’t get to give Senators on what grounds they can acquit.

5:56 PM: Marshall asks if the House Managers contradicted their own charge by outlawing the premeditated nature of the event and highlighting that barriers were pushed over 20 minutes before the conclusion of Trump’s speech.

Van der veen says “yes.”

5:55 PM: Raskin, in response to Blumenthal’s question about whether the First Amendment protects Trump, says Trump’s lawyers have slurred the bipartisan group of law professors who have argued that it doesn’t. He says Trump’s team is already treating Trump like a criminal defendant even though impeachment is not a criminal trial.

5:43 PM: Sullivan asks the former president’s counsel  what the implications are re: due process being discretionary in the House and disqualifying a public citizen from seeking office in an impeachment trial.

Van der veen says nobody is safe if you take away due process from one person and he insists the process is unconstitutional because it violates due process.

5:42 PM: Plaskett, in response to van der Veen’s assertion that Trump has a good relationship with Pence, says Trump turns against anyone who doesn’t follow his command and says many Senators in the chamber would know how that feels. She rips Trump for his “dereliction of duty” against all who elected him.

5:35 PM: Cassidy asks if Trump’s actions/tweets about Pence lacking courage after he was told by Tuberville that Pence was being evacuated shows Trump did not care and was tolerant of the “intimidation of Pence” because

Van der Veen disputes the facts.

Raskin says this impeachment trial is about preserving the republic and not a criminal trial. He asks Trump’s team to bring their client up there and testify about why he was sending out tweets criticizing Pence while a mob was trying to “hang Mike Pence.”

Raskin says Van der Veen should have been in D.C. on January 6th in response to his “worst day in D.C.” remarks.

5:28 PM: Murray asks the House Managers what is the relevance of Trump “these are the things that happen” tweet to his guilts.

Castro says this was a “key quote” by Trump on that “horrific day” hours after the Capitol had been stormed and yelled “hang Mike Pence.” Castro says Trump intended and “reveled” in this, and that’s what the tweet reveals.

5:23 PM: Raskin, asked about Harris’s statements during the BLM protests and whether they incited rioters if Trump incited the mob, Raskin says there is nothing to compare Trump’s conduct to because Harris would not incite violence and she was not a president who incited an insurrection. Van der Veen says Trump’s team played the clip twice after Raskin says he was not familiar with it and pokes fun at the so-called “Raskin doctrine.”

5:10 PM: Both teams asked why did it appear that the Capitol Police were not prepared if the January 6 attack was predictable.

Van der Veen says that is a good question and says maybe someone would have had an answer if House Managers would have investigated.

Plaskett says Trump’s team wants to blame everyone except for Trump. She says Trump never told anyone that he was sending help to the Capitol. She says Trump did not defend the Capitol of this country and his actions are “indefensible.”

5:01 PM: Sanders, stating that House Managers have stated that Trump was perpetrating a “Big Lie,” asks both sides if Trump actually won the election.

Plaskett says Trump had no support for his lies. She says everyone was ready for a peaceful transition of power except the former president.

Van der Veen, in a tough spot, keeps asking for the question to be repeated and says in his judgment the question is irrelevant.

 

4:59 PM: Cramer asks Trump’s lawyers if there has been amore pro-Israeal president than Trump.

Van der Veen says no.

4:55 PM: Warren asks if Democrats objected to the certification of electoral votes after an insurrection and after a president asked Senators to delay the certification process.

Raskin says the answer is no.

4:41 PM: Padilla asks how did Trump’s plot to keep himself in power lead to the radicalization of so many of Trump’s followers and the resulting attack on the Capitol.

Castro says Trump spent months saying the election was stolen, and that is what got people “so angry.” He says that was the purpose behind Trump’s comments about “rigged” and “stolen” elections.

4:33 PM: Casey and Klobuchar and Brown ask the House Managers if they do not convict Trump, what message will be sending to future presidents and Congresses.

Plaskett says Trump incited an attack while seeking to overthrow an election. She says the world watched this and the world is still watching the United States and will know what Congress did this day a hundred years from now. She says extremists will be emboldened if the Senate acquits because they are standing by and standing ready because Trump told them “this is only the beginning.”

She says it is not lost on her that Trump’s team put out videos and clip after clip of black women who are sick and tired of being sick and tired saying they will fight for policies or a cause.

4:27 PM: Romney asks both sides if Trump was aware that Pence had been removed from the Senate for his safety when he sent his inflammatory tweet about Pence.

Castro says Trump had to know because one could not consume media without knowing what was happening. He says Tuberville told Trump they took Pence to safety and he had to go, so Trump had to know.

Trump’s lawyer van der Veen claims the answer is “no.” He says because the House rushed the impeachment proceedings, lawyers were not given time to find out what Trump knew.

4:22 PM: Markey and Duckworth ask the House Managers exactly when did the president learn of the breach at the Capitol and what steps did he take to address the violence.

Plaskett says the attack was on live television. He has access to intelligence information. She says he knew the violence that was under way and the severity of the threat. She says he knew Capitol police were under threat, but there were no tweets. She says he never told the rioters to stop and go back. She says it is unclear what Trump did or did not do but it was a “dereliction of duty” because they came to the Capitol because of Trump. She wonders why didn’t Trump tell the supporters to stop and why Trump did nothing to stop the attack or protect the Capitol and law enforcement officers who were battling the insurgents.

4:15 PM: Hagerty and Scott ask Trump’s team if the justice system is working to hold people responsible accountable. They ask if this is just a show trial that is designed to discredit Trump and his policies…

Castor says the former president no longer holds office and the only logical conclusion is that the purpose of this gathering is to embarrass the former president and, at the very least, publicize this throughout the land to damage Trump’s ability to run for office again.

4:12 PM: Rosen asks the House Managers if there is evidence that Trump knew or should have known that his tolerance of anti-semitic speech would have caused violence.

Plaskett says Trump has a long history of encouraging violence speech. She says he has at every opportunity encouraged and cultivated “actual violence” not just the word “fight.” She says Trump had a “pattern and practice,” and it is no surprise these violent groups showed up on January 6. She says Trump’s behavior is different because it was months of cultivating a base of people who were violent. He says Trump knew who he was calling and the violence they were capable of.

4:09 PM: Collins and Murkowski ask Trump’s team when Trump learned about the breach and what specific actions he took to stop it and when did he take them.

Trump team’s van der Veen says there was a tweet at 2:30 PM from Trump so it was sometime before then. He now is criticizing reports built upon hearsay.

4:03 PM: Warnock asks the House Managers if it is true that in the months leading up to January 6 that dozens of courts rejected the Trump campaign’s efforts to overturn his loss to Biden.

Raskin says it is true, and he has no problem with Trump going to court. He says Trump lost 61 straight cases in federal and state courts. He says all of the courts found that they couldn’t find any fraud, corruption, or unconstitutionality.

4:02 PM: Graham and three other GOP Senators asks Trump’s team if a politician raising bail for rioters encourages more rioting. Counsel answers “yes.”

3:55 PM: Senators will now get up to four hours for questions. Answers will be limited to five minutes. Schumer and Feinstein asks  House Managers would the violence have occurred had it not been for Trump’s actions.

Castro says the “violent, bloody insurrection” would not have occurred “but for President Trump.”

He says the mob did not come out of thin air and Trump spread lie after lie even before the election to make his supporters believe that he could only lose if the election was stolen.

3:20 PM: Senate in recess for 15 minutes after the former president’s team concludes the defense’s presentation.

3:12 PM: Castor says there is a “complete lack of evidence” that Trump incited the mob. So, he says, they are there because of “politics.” He says Democrats don’t want Trump to run again. He says this trial is criminalizing political viewpoints and silencing the speech of people Democrats they disagree with. He says this is the only “existential issue” before the Senate. He says it asks for “constitutional cancel culture” to take over the Senate.

3:01 PM: Castor says violent criminals started rallying near the Capitol an hour before Trump’s speech and started engaging in violence a mile away in their “pre-planned assault” while Trump was speaking.

2:50 PM: Castor says the Managers would like Senators to believe that Trump’s supporters follow his every word, saying Trump’s supporters heard “peacefully” and then rioted. He insists Trump was encouraging his supporters to primary Senators.

2:45 PM: Castor says he has spent more than three decades locking up killers, and he knows a little bit about applying the facts to the laws. He says Trump has always been for “law and order” against protesters who were against him and against mobs that were against him.

2:37 PM: Castor says “incitement” is the critical issue, and that is what he will be discussing. Castor says what happened on January 6 was anything other than “horrific.” He claims the former president denounces the actions by “those criminals.” He says the House Managers spent no time connecting the attack on the Capitol to the former president.

2:35 PM: Castor is now up for the former president’s team. He is talking about how difficult it was for them to divide up the speaking assignments and schedule. He said he decided he would take the “last substantive part of the case” for himself.

1:55 PM: Senate now in recess for 15 minutes.

1:43 PM: Van der Veen says Trump told supporters to “peacefully” make their voices heard at the rally. He says House Managers have played “manipulated” parts of Trump’s speech and focus “heavily on the word ‘fight.'” He says Trump used “fight” 20 times in the speech but the managers only focused on two instances.

Dems. mocking Trump’s team:

1:29 PM: Van der Veen says House Managers and law professors are ignoring cases that help them make the case that Trump has expanded First Amendment rights.

1:10 PM: Van der Veen back up to talk about the First Amendment. He says the First Amendment applies and Trump’s speech deserves protection. He says this case is about “political hatred” and it is clear House Democrats “hate Donald Trump.” He says this kind of “political hate” has no place in the country’s institutions and political law. He says what we have heard and read is “devoid” of any Constitutional analysis. He says “hatred” is why House Managers want to blame Trump for the rioters based on “double hearsay.”

1:00 PM: Schoen says one of the first things Raskin did in the House was to object to the electoral college certification. He ends with a clip of Nadler railing against partisan impeachments.

12:45 PM: Schoen says Trump was calling on primary challengers and not violence when he talked about fighting on January 6. He is playing video of Democrats talking about “fighting” and using “violent” rhetoric against Trump. He now plays video of Democrats praising the “peaceful” Black Lives Matter protests/riots.

12:40 PM: Schoen calling Democrats out for taking Trump’s “very fine people” comments out of context. He says this could be the first time his full remarks were played on a news network.

12:35 PM: Schoen says the House Managers staged numerous photo shoots of their preparation. He accuses House Democrats of manufacturing images of tweets, including giving people who have never been “verified” a “check mark” that indicated they were verified. Schoen wonders if they wanted to make the person look more important or were just sloppy.

12:27 PM: Schoen says the “hatred” the House Managers for Trump caused them to bypass due process. He says House leaders had contemplated  holding the articles for 100 days to give Biden time to implement his agenda. He says Trump and his counsel were given no opportunity to review evidence and the rush to judgment was just one example of a “denial of due process.” He rips House Managers for using press reports with anonymous sources against Trump.

Schoen says Trump’s team should have been able to see the “new footage” that was used against him. He asks how House Managers got the footage that they used for political gain. He asks why it was not released by law enforcement or the Department of Justice.

12:17 PM: Van der Veen says Trump used language that politicians have used for hundreds of years when they talk about “fighting for our principles.” He says no human being believes the use of such “metaphorical terminology is an incitement to political violence.” He says there are numerous officials in D.C. have used “inflammatory language” in recent years, spending the last four years repeating that the 2016 was hacked and that Trump was a “Russian spy.” He says Democrats are using “constitutional cancel culture” to prevent Trump from running for office again. “Now is not the time for a campaign of such retribution,” he says, adding that now is a time for “unity” and “healing.” He talks about cooling temperatures and calming passions.

12:15 PM: Van der Veen says “you can’t incite what was already going to happen.”

12:05 PM: Trump lawyer Michael van der Veen says the impeachment trial is an “unjust and unconstitutional act of political vengeance.” He claims nobody could think that Trump’s speech incited violence. He plays video of House Democrats, including Raskin, objecting to certification after Trump was elected. He says it is a “preposterous” and “monstrous lie” to claim that Trump wanted to incite violence.

12:01 PM: Impeachment trial resumes. Depending on how quickly Trump’s team finishes, Senators could begin to ask their questions later this evening.

11:50 AM: The former president’s team has 16 hours over two days for their presentation. They are reportedly not expected to use even half of their allotted time.

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